


feels like i'm falling (and i am lost in your eyes)

by lazyfish



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Amusement Parks, Characters Are Adrenaline Junkies, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 10:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16617242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish
Summary: Bobbi, Hunter, a single rider’s line, and what comes of it.





	feels like i'm falling (and i am lost in your eyes)

Bobbi had never considered how annoying being a fifth wheel could be at an amusement park. She swears every single ride is meant for either two people or four to sit in a cart together. That means that more often than not, she’s sent to the single riders line while Mack, Elena, Fitz, and Simmons apologize again for exiling her to sit with some stranger. 

The first few times weren’t so bad, because the park was empty enough that sometimes, she just got an entire row to herself. That was nice - there wasn’t any awkward small talk made, and she could focus on having fun. Sure, it kind of sucked that she wasn’t with her friends (especially since it had been her idea to go to an amusement park in the first place), but Bobbi figured that was just the way of the world sometimes.

It only started to get annoying to constantly be shunted off to the single riders line when she actually started having to talk to other people. These ‘other people’ included an alarming amount of men who seemed to think that waiting in line for a roller coaster was an excellent time to flirt with her. All she wanted was to be left alone to get her adrenaline fix in peace. Bobbi is hot and sweaty, and she’s not sure she wants to know what people find attractive in her overheated flush.

Around lunch time she snaps at Mack when he suggests they go on yet another four-person ride, and that’s when everyone decided that maybe food is a good idea. 

Bobbi’s just gotten her food, and is searching the crowds of picnic tables for where Elena and Jemma have staked out a spot. She’s so busy looking for her friends that she doesn’t even notice that she’s about to run into someone until it’s too late. Bobbi’s cheese fries end up splattered across the back of some poor, unsuspecting passerby.

“I’m so sorry,” she sighs as the man turns around to face her. She’s expecting some yelling, maybe a swear or two, but that’s not what she gets.

“Not a problem,” he answers, voice surprisingly calm for someone who’s just had hot cheese spilled on him. “I always bring extra shirts to amusement parks, would you believe?” He smiles at her, and Bobbi’s unsure if her insides are crumpling in relief or something else.

“I do,” she says, watching as the man mysteriously produces a backpack. He opens it, and unfurls another, identical T-shirt with a flick of his wrist. 

“I have been ralphed on too many times not to take proper precautions,” the man says. Bobbi hides a smile at his choice of words, though the vocabulary just match his accent, which she’s only now noticing is distinctly British. Jemma and Leo would be so pleased to know they weren’t the only ones from across the pond, she thinks dimly.

_ Holy shit he’s taking his shirt off _ . Bobbi is entirely unprepared for this development, and she stands mute as the man lifts the cheese-covered shirt over his head. She’s trying not to stare, she really is, but he has  _ abs _ and her brain isn’t firing fast enough for her to either close her mouth or look away.

“There, good as new,” the man says, apparently oblivious to Bobbi’s stares as he pulls the clean shirt over his head. “D’you need any help getting new food?” He asks, gesturing to her half-empty tub of fries. At least her soda is still intact.

“No, I’m fine,” Bobbi squeaks out.

“Well, guess I’ll take my leave then.” He smiles again, all teeth and dimples, and Bobbi doesn’t have time to formulate a coherent response before he disappears into the crowd.

She opts not to get a new order of fries, not wanting to wait in line again. No one asks any questions when she eventually finds their picnic table, and Bobbi eats in relative silence, only chiming in when she’s asked a question about which coasters she wants to go to next. She doesn’t point out that since she’s been riding single the whole day anyways, she can go wherever she likes without any of her friends. That seems a little petty, even for her. 

When they get in line, Bobbi doesn’t even bother waiting for someone to ask her sheepishly if she would mind going to the singles line; she just does.

Lo and behold, who is there except for Fry Man? Today truly is cursed. Bobbi’s hoping not to be recognized, but that hope is dashed the moment she slides into line behind Fry Boy.

“I’m glad to see spilling your French fries didn’t emotionally compromise you,” he says with a smile.

Bobbi flushes bright pink. “Nope. Still emotionally intact.” Mostly, at least.

“You here with friends?” The man asks. “My older sister and her girlfriend dragged me here, but they keep sending me to the singles line.”

“My best friend, his girlfriend, and two of my coworkers who are dating,” Bobbi confirms. “I hate being fifth wheeled.” At least she finally has someone who understands that.

The line inches forward as a new coaster comes in. 

“I’m Lance.”

“Bobbi.” 

They don’t speak any more after that, choosing to mill in silence while they wait to get on the next coaster. Lance waves jauntily when he departs, meeting up with two women that Bobbi assumes are the aforementioned sister and sister’s girlfriend. She spots Mack, Elena, Fitz, and Simmons a few moments after that, and the fivesome makes their way to the next planned coaster.

Lance is already there, right ahead of her in the single riders line, just like he had been before.

“Fancy seeing you here,” he says, smiling at her. She hates how much she likes that smile.

“Could say the same thing about you.” Bobbi leans against the railing, trying to look nonchalant. She’s foiled when her elbow lands on something sticky. Bobbi’s nose wrinkles, and Lance laughs. 

“I try not to touch anything I don’t absolutely have to.” He reaches into his bag and produces a wet wipe, which he hands to her. Bobbi wipes the mysterious gunk off her arm gratefully.

“What else is in your bag of secrets?” Bobbi asks. A shirt and wipes aren’t bad ideas, but she’s curious as to what else is filling his backpack.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Lance smiles again. 

“What if I guess?” 

“If you guess correctly, I will tell you so,” Lance acquiesces. Bobbi’s almost certain it’s just because he’s as bored in the lines as she is, but she’s going to take whatever win she can get.

“Okay… a water bottle?”

“ _ That’s _ your first guess?” Lance asks with a laugh. Bobbi wrinkles her nose at him.

“It’s a good guess!”

“It’s a  _ boring _ guess!”

“But do you have one?”

“...Yes.” Lance fishes it out to show her. The water bottle is made of metal, with a screw top. It’s relatively nondescript, except for the soccer ball emblazoned on it; Bobbi files that away for a conversation starter, if they need one.

“Okay,” Bobbi chews her lip, pondering. “Condoms?”

“Why would I -”

“Adrenaline’s supposed to be good for libido!” Bobbi defends. As an adrenaline junkie, she can confirm this. She's definitely not thinking about how she saw him shirtless earlier, nope. “You know, you can just say yes or no instead of mercilessly judging me.”

“The merciless judging is the fun part,” Lance teases. 

He doesn’t answer her question, though, because just then another roller coaster comes in, and they both step onto it. She’s not going to try to shout questions to him about condoms over the loud mechanical noises of the coaster preparing for takeoff - especially because she doesn’t know where in the line her friends are.

When the ride is over and she’s on her way to pick up her stuff, Bobbi’s surprise to find a warm hand on her shoulder. She turns to see Lance, and is about to ask him what he needs when he leans in to put her lips next to her ear. “The answer to your question is yes,” he says. Bobbi’s retort is on the tip of her tongue, but Lance is already jogging away.

Why does she feel so warm all of a sudden?

Bobbi tries to contain her disappointment when Lance isn’t at the next coaster she rides, or the one after that. She’s beginning to wonder if he’s left the amusement park when she spots him, about a dozen people ahead of her in the singles line. He’s not looking at her, so she can’t wave, but she does feel oddly more settled knowing he’s still there.

Bobbi begins mindlessly scrolling through her e-mail. There’s nothing interesting there, but it’s less boring than just standing in line doing nothing. She’s about to consider reading a weekly recipe Food Network sends her when she feels a tap on her shoulder.

“I saw you back here; thought you might like some company,” Lance says without preamble. Bobbi slides her phone into her pocket, smiling at him.

“Some company, maybe, but who says I want yours?” Lance looks unsure for a moment, and Bobbi reaches out to grab his shoulder. “I do,” she tells him before he can go getting all insecure about whether or not she likes talking to him.

“That’s good, because I just revealed my deepest and darkest secret to you, so…”

“That can’t be your worst secret,” Bobbi says with an eye roll. “Condoms are an important part of the human experience. It’s not embarrassing to have them.”

“It’s embarrassing to tell a beautiful woman I have them and then run off,” Hunter rebuts. 

“You really think I’m beautiful?” Damnit, Bobbi thought, why was  _ that _ the part of the sentence she chose to respond to?

“Have to be blind not to, love,” Lance responds, evidently not as distressed by the comment as Bobbi is. “Is that a problem?”

Bobbi’s brain flicks back to all the unsolicited flirting earlier in the day. Is it bad that she’s not upset at all with Lance flirting with her? She doesn’t think so. At least he had talked to her like a human first, instead of just a body that happened to be female.

“No. No, it’s not,” Bobbi answers.

“What do you say we ditch our friends, get to know each other a little better?” Lance suggests.

Bobbi can’t think of a reason not to; it’s not like she’s seen much of her friends, anyways. She shoots off a quick text to their group chat to let her friends know she’s not going to be trailing them the rest of the day, and that she’ll drive herself home. She shuts off her phone before she can see the responses, not wanting to be distracted from this unexpected first date.

It’s surprisingly successful, for a first date - or for any date, really. He buys her a lemonade when she mentions she’s thirsty, and then insists on kissing her to see how the lemonade tastes. Bobbi doesn’t mind, not at all.

They talk about all manner of things, from his love of soccer ( _ football _ , Bobbi!) to her doctoral thesis to the reason they’re both adrenaline junkies. Everything he says is interesting - even the things that Bobbi would probably yawn at hearing from anyone else’s mouth. Lance just has a way about him that intrigues her to no end.

She doesn’t want the day to be over, but before she knows it the park is closing down. She already has Lance’s phone number (and a plethora of text messages from Mack, Elena, Fitz, and Simmons that she should probably read before she starts driving home), but Bobbi just wants a little more time with him.

They walk to the entrance together, hand in hand, both dragging their feet a little more than necessary.

“Can I walk you to your car?” Lance asks hopefully.

“Sure,” Bobbi responds. It only buys them an extra two minutes, almost all of which they spend in silence, but it’s two minutes nonetheless.

“Thanks for today,” Lance says when they reach her car. “I wasn’t really looking forward to the afternoon, until I saw you.”

Bobbi blushes, and she wonders if Lance can see in the light of the streetlamp. “Thank you, too,” she answers. “I hope this isn’t the end.” It would be too easy just to take this one day and squirrel it away as something to treasure, but not to repeat, but Bobbi doesn’t want that. She wants this to be a beginning.

(It is - and it’s the most beautiful beginning Bobbi’s ever seen.)

\---

Bobbi’s nervous. She doesn’t really have a reason to be, but she’s nervous all the same. Who’d have thought - a woman who sought death-defying thrills as a hobby, nervous about a simple conversation.

She pads out of the bedroom in the apartment that she and Hunter share, and into the living room where her fiancé is sitting. Hunter’s flicking through some soccer magazine with only mild interest, and Bobbi doesn’t feel bad about interrupting him.

“Hey,” she says as she sits down beside him. Hunter closes the magazine quickly, setting it aside on the end table. It frees his hands so he can wrap his arm around her shoulders, and his warmth settles the worst of nerves.

“Hi,” Hunter answers, turning to look at Bobbi. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” Normally when she comes home from work, Bobbi’s not too keen on cuddling, so she understands his remark as teasing rather than bitter.

“I have some bad news,” Bobbi says. Hunter’s brow furrows, his focus sharpening on her.

“What’s wrong?”

“We’re going to have to cancel our anniversary trip this year,” Bobbi says. Every year they celebrate the day they met by going back to the same amusement park and riding the same rides, this time not as single riders. But, that’s not going to be possible this year.

“Okay…” Hunter says, still studying her intently. “Can I ask why?” He’s deciding whether or not he should be worried, Bobbi can tell.

“Well, I was looking at some FDA regulations,” Bobbi says, bracing herself, “and apparently, you’re not supposed to ride roller coasters when you’re pregnant.”

There’s a beat of silence, and Bobbi watches as the gears turn in Hunter’s head.

“You’re…?” 

She nods.

The next moment Bobbi’s swept into the tightest hug she thinks she’s ever had before. Hunter crushes her against him, his head pressed against her neck in a way that is fervent and hopeful, chasing away her doubts.

“Lance,” she wheezes as his arms squeeze her ribcage. “You’re squishing the baby.”

“Sorry!” Hunter yelps, releasing her from his vice-like grip. He looks into her eyes, and Bobbi’s chest suddenly feels tight again. He looks so… happy. A child hadn’t been a part of their plan, at least not this soon. Neither of them were really white picket fence people, and if they did have a kid, it was supposed to be down the line - when they were married, and not living in a one-bedroom apartment in the middle of the city.

“So you’re not mad?” Bobbi asks. She feels silly as soon as the question is out of her mouth. The voice in the back of her head that’s insisting that Hunter is going to leave, that she’s going to have to raise their baby alone - that voice sounds suspiciously like the one that told her that she would never find someone to love her. (It sounds suspiciously like her father’s voice, but Bobbi’s not going to say that.) It had been wrong then, and it was wrong now. Hunter was hers; he loved her, and he would stay.

“I’m not mad,” Hunter says, voice gentle. He cradles her head in his hands, all softness and innocence as he tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “If I had to pick an emotion right now, I don’t think mad would even be in my top thousand.” He smiles at her again, the smile that Bobbi fell in love with that very first day. Bobbi’s heart flutters just the same as it had the first time, and she allows herself a moment to appreciate that before the panic sets in again.

“Good - great,” Bobbi stutters out. “I’m - I’m just going to - I think I’ll go… do something, and -” She doesn’t know why she’s suddenly so awkward, why she has the urge to escape from Hunter.

“Hey,” Lance whispers, guiding her face close to his. “Stay.” Bobbi doesn’t need to be told twice, and she collapses into Lance’s lap. She curls in on herself so she can tuck her head under his chin, her knees against her chest. Maybe, she thinks, she just tried to leave to prove to herself that he wouldn’t let her. 

“I love you,” Lance says, kissing her hair. 

Bobbi nods slowly, grabbing onto Hunter’s hand and guiding it to her still-flat stomach. “We love you, too.”

\---

“Caroline, wait for your mum!” Lance’s voice drifts over to Bobbi, and she smiles at him as she watches him try to restrain their five-year-old from running off into the park without her. 

“Sorry, mummy,” Caro says when Bobbi catches up to them - though honestly, she doesn’t look that sorry.

“Trying to run off without me, little bird?” Bobbi asks her daughter playfully. Caroline shakes her head, her brunette curls whipping back and forth with the force of the movement. 

It’s Caro’s first time at an amusement park, so her excitement is well-founded. Since she learned the words ‘roller coaster’ she’s been begging to ride one, and even though she’s too small still for the more intense thrills, Bobbi and Lance had agreed that they could bring their daughter along to their yearly amusement park trip. Previous years she had stayed behind with Mack and Elena while her parents celebrated their anniversary, but not this time.

“Let’s go!” Caro chirps, jumping up and down. “C’mon, c’mon!” 

Hunter gives Bobbi a look that clearly says their daughter inherited her bossiness from  _ her _ side of the family. Bobbi shrugs helplessly, but waves Hunter forward. Best not to make their daughter wait any longer if they want to avoid a tantrum.

The roller coasters that are suitable for five year olds are admittedly not that exciting - and they also don’t have single rider lines, since it’s all but expected that parents will ride with their children. The normal surge of adrenaline that accompanies their trip to the park is absent for Bobbi, but it’s replaced instead with the parental warmth of watching her daughter discover something new. Of course, because she’s their daughter, Caroline enjoys every second of every coaster she can get on.

They’re on their way to lunch, Caro perched on Hunter’s shoulders, when her husband unexpectedly stops.

“Little bird,” he says, reaching up to take Caroline off his shoulders, “this is where your mum and I met.”

Bobbi looks around, and the scene slides into focus - her searching for the picnic tables, and then crashing into the man who would one day become her best friend, her husband, and the father of her child. 

“Cool,” Caro says, obviously uninterested in the story her father is trying to tell. “Can we get food now?”

Lance laughs, giving Bobbi another fondly exasperated look. He doesn’t seem to care that she isn’t paying attention, and Bobbi suspects the nostalgia is more for the two of them than her daughter. “One minute, love.” He leans over to Bobbi, planting a solid kiss on her lips. It’s so unexpected that Bobbi doesn’t even have time to react before he’s pulled away again.

“Hey!” Bobbi says indignantly. She wants her husband back!

Hunter leans forward to kiss her again, and this time Bobbi can savor it, even if the kiss is chaste for their daughter’s sake.

“Gross, kissing!” Chaste as it is, Caro still takes issue with the kissing. Bobbi and Hunter both laugh at their daughter’s disgust, but it’s quickly forgotten as she pulls them both towards a hotdog cart.

It’s a few hours later when they leave the amusement park for the day, Caroline asleep in Hunter’s arms. Bobbi can’t help but think of how far she and her husband have come since the first time they exited the park hand-in-hand all those years ago. That Bobbi would have never believed any of this - much less that it would happen with a stranger she met in the singles line.

When they get to the car, Hunter straps Caro into her carseat and ducks into the passenger side, smiling. “Happy anniversary, darling.” He leans across the console to kiss her again, and contentment sweeps through Bobbi like a summer’s breeze.

Happy it is, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Wee! My friend [Rebecca](http://besidemethewholedamntime.tumblr.com/) sent me a tumblr post that was an Imagine Your OTP scenario with a single riders line, which was the inspiration for this fic, so big thanks to her!!! As always you can find me on [tumblr](https://huntxngbxrd.tumblr.com).


End file.
